Editor's note: To get you in the mood for ballot-casting, The Latest Word is kicking off each weekday between now and the November 4 election with Buttoned Up, a look at political buttons from my family's extensive collection...

Lawyer and utility executive Wendell Wilkie didn't really have a realistic shot of unseating President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election -- but you've gotta love that optimism! When Willkie died in 1944, Roosevelt's wife, Eleanor (the one who was supposed to start packing), eulogized him by declaring, "Americans tend to forget the names of the men who lost their bid for the presidency. Willkie proved the exception to this rule."

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But not for long. -- Michael Roberts